Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Our scenic wedding venue near Knoxville is the perfect place for a charming, intimate ceremony and reception. If you will be hosting a wedding with 100 or fewer guests, Country Jewell is exactly what you need. There are many wedding planning tasks that are a lot easier to tackle when you choose to have a small wedding. Big weddings can be wonderful too, but here are five reasons that you may want to keep the guest list to a minimum. That will make doing the following things a lot easier.

#1 - Saving MoneyWith fewer people to feed and make room for, your catering bill, among other things, will be much less expensive. There will also be fewer invitations to purchase, plus a lot less postage to buy. If you have a little extra wiggle room in your budget, you may even be able to splurge on one particular thing for the wedding, or even save some money for the honeymoon. #2 - Personalizing FavorsIf you are a DIY bride hosting a large wedding, it's going to take you hours upon hours to make enough of everything for everyone. A small guest list means that you have fewer items to make, so you can take a little extra care and time to do something more, like customize favors with each guest's name. #3 - Decorating TablesLess people sitting down to dinner at your reception means that you won't need as many tables and chairs set up around the room. That benefit can go a couple of different ways. You can get a lot more extravagant with each table's decor when you don't have that many to decorate, or you can stay minimalist and save a good chunk of money.

#4 - Spending 1-on-1 Time With GuestsAn intimate wedding means that it's much easier to spend time with every guest without feeling like you have to rush off to greet the next one. You will also be able to spend quality time with your new spouse because you won't be pulled in every direction all night long trying to make sure you didn't miss any guests. #5 - Remaining CalmHundreds of guests seated at your ceremony may make you feel like you are giving a performance rather than simply marrying the person you love. A small wedding with your closest family and friends will put you at ease and help to make the experience more enjoyable and less stressful.

Our rustic wedding barn near Knoxville is a wonderful place to hold a reception for a wedding with up to 100 guests. There is plenty of room to both have an amazing dinner plus dance the night away. The charming wedding chapel is a bit more intimate, able to hold up to 45 people. If that's a little cramped for your ceremony, we still have the gorgeous wedding gazebo outside to say your "I do's" under. If you would like to take a look at Country Jewell to see if it's the perfect small wedding venue near Knoxville for you, give us a call at 865-494-0552 and arrange a tour. We just know that you'll love our scenic event venue as much as we do. It's an incredible place to start your new life together as husband and wife with all of your closest family and friends.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

We host a lot of beautiful ceremonies and receptions every year at our rustic wedding venue near Knoxville. Each one is unique, and we do our very best at Country Jewell to make sure every bride and groom, as well as their guests, have the best day ever.

The great big smiles on everyone's faces during the event generally let us know that everyone is having a good time, but we know for sure when we hear back about the experience after the event is over. This is why we welcome reviews. Facebook seems to be the most popular outlet for our guests' feedback. Here are a few of our most recent reviews.

"I found Country Jewell online. We live in Ohio and after talking to Claudia we booked the venue and never looked back. But when we pulled in the night before our wedding all my dreams about how I wanted our day to go came true. The venue was beautiful and clean, the grounds were perfection and the food and cake were amazing. We hit the lottery with Country Jewell. We could not have ordered better weather and Hope, the photographer, was absolutely the best. Hal, the DJ, was engaging and made me feel confident our guests would be able to dance the night away! Claudia had everything packed up for us when our night was over and we were able to leave and tend to our guests back at the lake! So Claudia and staff......thank you!! Thank you for giving us the day of our dreams. We will never forget this most amazing day!!Love,Gary and Tammy Waire" Facebook review

"I had my wedding here and Claudia and her partner (didn't catch her name) made my wedding day absolutely perfect. My husband and I love the atmosphere here, and so will you!!"~Makenzie S, Facebook review

"I had my wedding with Claudia June 18th and it was amazing. She and her staff were so talented and helpful and the day was absolutely perfect. Not only was it beautiful but it was a total blast from beginning to end. Thank you so much, ya'll are truly a blessing!"~Janet B, Facebook review

Wedding aren't the only event that takes place at Country Jewell. We also host many engagement parties, anniversaries, holiday parties, business retreats, birthdays, and much more. The scenic beauty and charming atmosphere make everyone feel right at home.

"I had my parents surprise anniversary party here...it was wonderful! Claudia is so sweet and great to work with. Her venue is beautiful and clean. She directed my caterer and DJ with set-up which helped me while I set out my decorations. My family had a great experience and made a lot memories that night!"~Lindsey, Facebook review

If you are looking for a gorgeous place to get married, or to hold any other type of celebration, stop by our scenic event venue near Knoxville and take a look. We will be happy to show you around, listen to your story, and help to make your event vision a reality. Weddings and events at Country Jewell are sure to be happy memories for everyone involved for many years to come. Thank you to all of the people that took the time to leave a review for us. We would love to hear from even more of you.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

January is designated as "Get Organized Month," so it's a great time to focus on a few things that you can do to stay organized while you are planning a wedding in the Knoxville area. There are lots and lots of tasks involved in pulling off a successful wedding, and the best way to stay as stress-free as possible is to keep everything organized. Country Jewell has a few tips to help make that happen.

Consider hiring a wedding planner.Some couples are afraid that if they hire a wedding planner, they will lose creative control over the wedding. While some planners may be a bit controlling, they aren't all like that. If you take the time to interview them until you find one that clicks with the two of you, you will be happy that you did. A good wedding coordinator will take your lead, but is there to offer experienced advice to make the planning simpler. They will keep you on track so that everything gets done in a timely manner before the big day.Personalize a wedding planning checklist.There are all kinds of wedding planning checklists out there written to cover a broad range of possibilities. Find one that is detailed enough to cover every aspect of the wedding you are planning, then start eliminating any tasks that don't pertain to your particular event, and also add any that aren't already included. Your wedding will be unique, and a personalized checklist better helps to make your vision a reality.Plan on paper or online?Do you still prefer paper lists to virtual ones on the computer or your mobile device, or vice versa? It's really not a bad idea to embrace and utilize both systems. Even if you want to do everything online, there is bound to be some paper items that you will need to keep track of, so you will want to have a plan for keeping those organized. The benefit to keeping track of your wedding planning online is that you will always have access to your notes, no matter where you are, and everything will still be there and can be reprinted if any paper pieces get misplaced. Also, many online organizers can be shared with others, like your soon-to-be-spouse, your wedding party, your parents, or any person you believe should be able to get to the information. There are settings you may choose so that other people can only view the items, or they may be allowed to make edits. Keep everything in one designated spot.The most important thing to do, whether you plan on paper, online, or both, is to pick one place for it all. A physical wedding binder should have enough room to hold everything, and a special spot in your home where you always put it when you're done with it. An online planning portal should have one main folder with smaller folders inside to keep you organized. Some of the items that you should keep together are:

Your personalized planning checklist

A calendar with appointments, deadlines, and important dates

Contact lists for every single person or vendor that is involved in your wedding. (wedding party, parents, officiant, rental shop, seamstress, etc...)

Set up a temporary email address.It's easy for emails to get lost in your inbox if you receive a lot on a regular basis. Make sure that you see everything that is wedding-related by setting up a temporary email address specifically for the wedding. This way all of that correspondence is all in one place for easy reference. Once the wedding is over, you can shut down the temporary email to avoid getting spam from vendors you no longer need. If there are vendors that you would like to keep in touch with, you can give them your regular email address after the wedding. Number your RSVP cards.If you are sending out RSVP cards with your invitations, inconspicuously number them in a tiny corner on the back, or with some type of invisible ink. Place the same number next to that name on your guest list. It is not uncommon for people to mail the RSVP back to you, but forget to put their name on it. In that case, you can simply check the number on the back and know exactly who it belongs to.

Schedule weekly time off.Even if all of your tasks are organized perfectly, if you don't take a break once in a while, your brain will be overwhelmed! Schedule time every week to do something that is not wedding related to give yourself a break. That way you will stay fresh, and tackling the next task will seem easier.

Staying organized during wedding planning will make everything run a lot smoother. You can always ask advice from the talented staff at our rustic wedding venue near Knoxville. We've seen a lot of weddings over the years, and if you get stuck, we just may know the answer. We always do our best at Country Jewell to help our brides and grooms have the most amazing wedding possible. Best of luck with your planning. We can't wait to see how it turns out!

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

January 4 is National Trivia Day, and all of us here at Country Jewell love weddings and everything about them. Those two facts wouldn't normally go together, but combining them gave us the inspiration to write a blog filled with fun wedding trivia. Some of these will be merely interesting to you, but some of them may give you a little inspiration when you start planning your ceremony and reception at our rustic wedding venue near Knoxville. Have fun reading!

1. Wearing a white wedding dress became a tradition after Queen Victoria got married in white on February 10, 1940.2. In Japan, while their brides traditionally always wore white, they would often change to a brightly colored dress, usually red, at some point during the celebration.3. Bright colors are worn by brides in India for the wedding ceremony, and those gowns are often covered with intricate designs and details. Instead of a veil to cover their heads, Indian women wear saris. 4. The bridal veil originally was worn to disguise the bride from evil spirits that might be jealous of her happiness and try to ruin it. 5. Irish weddings use bells to keep the evil spirits away from the bride and groom. Some brides even carry small bells in their bouquet for added protection.6. While diamonds are generally the jewel chosen for an engagement ring (because diamonds are forever), a sapphire in a wedding ring represents marital happiness.7. Wedding rings go on the fourth finger of the left hand because the belief is that the vein in that finger leads directly to the heart.8. Ever wonder why a bride is expected to have "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue?" Each of those things symbolizes:

Old = the bride's past, her family, and tradition

New = future happiness and good fortune

Borrowed = This should come from a happily married person in the hopes that their good fortune will rub off on you.

Blue = fidelity and love.

9. Don't jump with fright if you spot a spider on your wedding dress. Discovering one of those little guys on your bridal gown is supposed to bring good luck! 10. Another occurrence that might seem bad but is actually said to be lucky is rain on your wedding day. Hindus believe that the natural shower brings fertility and cleansing to the couple. 11. Do you want to sweeten your marriage? Then pick a wedding dress that you can wear gloves with and place a sugar cube inside one of those gloves.12. The song that most people refer to as "Here Comes The Bride" is by Wagner and actually titled the "Bridal Chorus." It is from the 1850 opera "Lohengrin.13. People often have Jordan Almonds as favors at a wedding. While this isn't a candy often eaten on a regular basis, it is significant for weddings because the almonds have a bittersweet taste, which represents life, and the sugar coating is added in the hopes that the marriage will have more sweet than bitter. When given in amounts of five, each almond represents a wish for the bride and groom: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity. 14. Be careful picking out your gift registry items. Apparently, receiving knives as a gift is a bad thing because people used to think that it symbolized a broken relationship. To ward off those bad vibes, it is suggested that you give the person gifting the knives a penny. That way, you're "buying" them instead of getting them as a present. 15. The word "honeymoon" originated from an ancient Norse tradition. Newly married couples used to go into hiding for 30 days (or one moon) after the wedding, and a family member would bring them a cup of honey wine each day.

Traditions and old tales and superstitions can sometimes spark an idea for something wonderful to add to your own wedding. There are lots of different chances during both the ceremony and reception at your rustic wedding near Knoxville where you can put in all sorts of personal touches. The history behind Country Jewell itself only adds to the beautiful story being created on your wedding day.